Friday, September 3, 2010
Events Labor Day weekend Atlanta food events, Sept. 3-5
Posted by Macy Lee on Fri, Sep 3, 2010 at 5:06 PM
Zydeco Picnic and Decatur Book Festival, Fri.-Sun., Sept. 3-5: Presented by DeKalb Medical, this annual book festival features presentations given by cooks, authors, and food columnists. The event will be closed out by popular band, Zydeco T. Free concert, $10 at the gate for food. Downtown Decatur Square. www.decaturbookfestival.com.
Morningside Farmers Market, Sat., Sept. 4: Chef Bruce Logue will be featured at this event, demonstrating several of his savory dishes served daily at La Pietra Cucina. The market and the demo are free. 9:30 a.m., 1393 N. Highland Ave. 404-313-5784. www.morningsidemarket.com.
Modern Day Masala, Sat., Sept. 4: The Cook’s Warehouse will be hosting a demo on how to make Indian food. They will provide you an ingredient list, the recipe, and even the spice blends. The spices are all USDA certified organic and they are made in Marietta, GA. Noon-2 p.m., 4062 Peachtree Road. 404-949-9945. www.cookswarehouse.com.
Midtown Restaurant Week, Sat., Sept. 4-Sun., Sept. 12: During this fifth annual restaurant week, participating restaurants will offer a $25 three-course meal. Participants include Two Urban Licks, Silk, Lobby, Dogwood and more. (Full list of participants on Web site.) Various locations. www.atlrestaurantweek.com.
Blackstock Vineyards and Winery Grape Stomping and Harvest Celebration, Sat.-Mon., Sept. 4-7: Grape stomping, harvest viewing, and wine tastings. Live music by Tommy Preston & the Kip Dockery Trio. 10 a.m.-6 p.m., 5400 Town Creek Road. www.bsvw.com.
Beer and Whiskey Fest, Sun., Sept. 5: Sixth annual event features tastings of many beers and whiskies, plus barbecue, five tribute bands, a DJ and a silent auction with 100 percent of proceeds going to the Nature Conservancy Gulf Coast Relief Fund. Portions of ticket sales also benefit the relief fund. 2 p.m.-11 p.m., $10 advance, $15 door. 500 10th St. 404-249-0001. www.beerandwhiskeyfest.com.
Food & Life Music hath charms that screw with your wallet
Posted by Cliff Bostock on Fri, Sep 3, 2010 at 12:10 PM
There are a few restaurants whose food I like very much but whose noisy ambiance makes me nuts. Usually, I opt for the patio whenever possible in that case.
You might presume restaurant cacophony is accidental. Actually, it's usually not, according to an article in the October issue of Psychology Today. Study after study has found that loud music in particular creates sensory overload that makes retail shoppers and restaurant diners more impulsive.
"Many restaurants," the article says, "intentionally forgo sound-absorbing materials,…preferring sound-bouncing stainless steel and tile to create an environment that feels lively, happening and successful (read: loud)."
As much as I do dislike very loud restaurants, when I go into one with a very light crowd, I feel self-conscious. The clinking of ice and the sound of a knife on the plate seem magnified to me. Conversation feels like fodder for eavesdropping if anyone is seated nearby. But I suppose all that could also be a reason to crank up the music.
Other findings Psychology Today notes about music in culinary venues:
Slow music encourages patrons to linger — spurring them to splurge on that dessert or extra drink.When a wine store played French music, most customers bought French wine, while German music spurred sales of German wine.
Good news for waiters everywhere: A recent French study revealed that playing songs with "prosocial" lyrics — those about empathy and helping others — can increase tips.
Thursday, September 2, 2010
Restaurants Post-slider taste of Olympus
Posted by Cliff Bostock on Thu, Sep 2, 2010 at 3:00 PM
- Cliff Bostock
This dessert, served at the Shed at Glenwood, has been my favorite around town for months. It's Greek yogurt with honey, walnuts and dates. It stimulates just about every aspect of the palate, from sweet to sour, from creamy to crunchy. I really want it made with figs instead of dates. I want to lie in a tub of it. I want a bowl of it set on my gravestone every day.
I ordered it Wednesday night following our usual visit to the Shed for $3 sliders. I only permitted myself two sliders, one with roasted pork shoulder and another with lamb prepared panino-style. So I figured I deserved the dessert.
If you haven't tried it, you really should. Soon.
Restaurants Lunch at Empire State South
Posted by Cliff Bostock on Thu, Sep 2, 2010 at 9:30 AM
- Cliff Bostock
I wish this photograph did the lunch I had justice. It's pan-roasted trout topped with charred corn, served with baby eggplant (hidden under the fish) and okra with buttery almond slivers. As good as the trout was, the vegetables were mind-blowing for the way Acheson ramps up and plays with their flavors.
Despite opening only a day earlier, the restaurant was running smoothly during my visit. It's open for breakfast, lunch and dinner.
I'll have more to say in "Grazing" in a few weeks.
Food media 'Top Chef' D.C, Episode 11: Space... The Delicious Frontier
Posted by Joel Silverman on Thu, Sep 2, 2010 at 1:30 AM
Tonight’s Top Chef: D.C. was the last Washington-based episode before the semifinals abroad, so the chefs cooked for the one remaining Washington agency that the show hadn't exploited yet: NASA. (Does NASA even still exist? I thought NASA was historical, like the War Department or the Civilian Conservation Corps.)
Now, I’ve never been to outer space, but I’ve watched enough movies to know three iron-clad facts:
1. Space food is all freeze-dried and tastes like crunchy ice cream. You can’t use things that will float away in zero gravity like capers or drippy sauces.
2. Soylent Green is people.
3. Eat the blue pill, and you’ll wake up in your bed and believe whatever you want to believe, but swallow the red pill, and Morpheus will show you just how deep this rabbit hole goes.
Wednesday, September 1, 2010
Events Fall food festivals get rolling
Posted by Besha Rodell on Wed, Sep 1, 2010 at 10:43 AM
- Eamon Siggins
- Here's your teeny tiny taste of wine...
Actually, you could say that the festivals really kicked off last month at the Attack of the Killer Tomatoes festival, which benefits Georgia Organics, and this year attracted all kinds of fancy people, including an editor of Food & Wine magazine who came all the way from NEW YORK CITY!!! I didn't go. I wanted to, but last year I went and I think got recognized by half the chefs in the city. It kinda ended my love affair with certain types of festival.
But I did make it this weekend to the Corks and Forks at the Grant Park Summer Shade festival. Much more crowded, quicker, and easier to get in and out vaguely incognito. The festival had different chefs and restaurants on different days. I went on Saturday, when I got to sample the goods of Rosebud, Serpas, BLT Steak, and Empire State South, among others.
The food was mostly good, not great. Rosebud's Ron Eyester was serving a shrimp salad po' boy type thing that was tasty but very heavy on the Old Bay. A generous squirt of Sriracha, provided but not mandatory, was helpful. Serpas was serving pulled pork in a little house-made pita type thingie with pickled peaches. It was porky and therefore delicious, but I felt like it needed more acid.
Empire State South, which opened to the public on Monday, was serving super fluffy biscuits with Benton's country ham and a very sharp pimento cheese. It was tasty, but I had to get rid of half the biscuit if I wanted the full effect of the fillings to be tastable.
Tuesday, August 31, 2010
Restaurants / Food Finds Playing footsie with big-ass BBQ
Posted by Cliff Bostock on Tue, Aug 31, 2010 at 11:16 AM
(H/T: Todd Harkleroad)
This week's feature: Wrecking Bar rising
Posted by Besha Rodell on Tue, Aug 31, 2010 at 10:46 AM
- Joeff Davis
Restaurants / Events Fried green tomatoes and dirty sunshine
Posted by Cliff Bostock on Tue, Aug 31, 2010 at 9:30 AM
Kevin Clark, chef and co-owner of Home Grown, shows you how to make fried green tomatoes in the top video. The bottom video features Cornbred Gallery, which is inside the restaurant. Don't miss Johnny Waggener's mixed-media show, "Dirty Sunshine," on display there Sept. 3-25. The opening reception on Saturday is scheduled 7 p.m.-12 midnight. (Click the events button on the gallery's website.)
Monday, August 30, 2010
Food & Life / Food media What's southern enough to be filmed?
Posted by Cliff Bostock on Mon, Aug 30, 2010 at 5:12 PM
The Southern Foodways Alliance asks this question on Facebook:
What's the one dish/ingredient/food event/restaurant/etc. from your home area that you'd like to see in a documentary abt Southern food?
Within 30 minutes, a slew of responses appeared. Check it out if you're on Facebook. It's like an idiosyncratic guide to Southern dining.
